(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Judges 16:4–17, “And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver. And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee. And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known. And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread. And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web. And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web. And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”
Samson had demonstrated a liking for Philistine girls but finally he fell head over heels in love with a girl called Delilah. The Philistines hated Samson because he had been so successful against them and they came to Delilah and asked her to find out the reason why Samson was so strong. We can assume from this that Samson probably looked more like the hundred pound weakling than the Mr Universe contestant for if he was a large and well muscled man the Philistines would have know the secret of his great strength. (In saying this I am not claiming to be inspired, this is only my own opinion.) Samson was a victim of the same plot that his father had tried to play on the angel who came before Samson was born. Manoah wanted to understand the angel’s power and the Philistines wanted to know Samson’s power so that they could subdue him. They told Delilah to seduce Samson and find out the secret of his great strength. No doubt, Delilah knew all about Samson’s first wife and the vicious retribution she had faced at the hand of the Philistines. She asked Samson the secret of his great strength and he told her false causes three times and they tried to capture him but he was too strong. Notice that the third time Samson talked about his hair even though he didn’t give the true reason. Finally Samson gave Delilah the truth that his strength came from his uncut hair. It really came from the Lord and was due to his lifelong vow of devotion. He should have known better but he was in love with Delilah and trusted her even though she wasn’t trustworthy.
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